Buddy Thomas: Colts have nothing but Luck to hope for

Thursday

Oct 27, 2011 at 12:01 AM

How's your NFL season going?

BUDDY THOMAS

How's your NFL season going?

I guess, if you're a Patriots' fan, it's going pretty well. When you're the only 5-1 team in the American Football Conference, how bad can it be? Bet most of you are already thinking about the playoffs, right? Heck, I'm sure some of you are even looking ahead toward February and a potential Super Bowl rematch with the Green Bay Packers. Why not?

Me? I'm focused on the lottery. The annual draft lottery that follows every NFL playoff season. For me, this NFL season stands for Not For Long and when your regular and postseason has come to an end, my time will finally arrive.

So, while you are focused on names like Ravens, Steelers, Chargers and maybe the Jets before you can even start thinking about other names like the Packers and Saints, I'm zeroed in on nothing but Luck ... as in Andrew Luck who is projected to be the No. 1 college draft selection in the April NFL lottery. And, right now, my head is spinning more than it did when the NFL was important and names like the Patriots, Steelers and Chargers were the most meaningful ones.

I guess you could say we're both focused on the top prize. But, while your long-range goal is winning a Super Bowl, my attention is on the anticipated top prize in the next lottery. To reach our respective goals, your team has to win and my team has to lose and seven weeks into the NFL regular season, I'm ahead — 0-7 to 5-1.

The best record in football doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl but the worst record in football comes close to guaranteeing the top pick in the annual lottery.

Right now, the Packers own the best record at 7-0 with your Patriots and the 49ers tied for second at 5-1. All three teams are virtually assured of reaching the playoffs with at least two of the three (Packers and Patriots) to figure in the Super Bowl hype. In my world, the Colts are currently the worst of three winless teams battling for futility rights that will guarantee first pick in the lottery. The Dolphins and Rams are both 0-6. The likely prize? Mr. Luck.

But, as a Colts' fan, here's my dilemma.

Will Indy need any quarterback if Peyton Manning recovers from his multiple neck surgeries and is at, or at least close to, 100 percent next season? And, even if he isn't, drafting Stanford quarterbacks hasn't exactly been a Colts' strong point in the past (see John Elway). Right now, all three zeroes (Colts, Rams and Dolphins) have an excellent shot of going winless which would force the league to resort to a "strength of schedule" formula to determine the draft order. All three will likely draft Luck but only the Dolphins are guaranteed of handing the starting quarterback reins to the west-coast gunslinger. The Rams will, in all liklihood, draft Luck and listen to trade offers and, depending on Manning's status, the Colts will do the same thing.

The Rams already have a young, franchise-type quarterback in Sam Bradford and need help in several other areas while a healthy Manning would confine any quarterback to clipboard duty for the next three years. There are plenty of good, solid quarterbacks in the upcoming draft Indy could get in the lower rounds to fill that job description. But, make no mistake, if the Colts win the battle for futility and earn the first selection in the lottery, they'll have the Luck they need — either to step in at quarterback or trade for other pieces — to re-establish their role as contender and make the next NFL season a viable one for me again.